Reply #25: Early retirement is not the answer.

[ParkieDem]

I'd love to retire when I'm 50 or 55 or even 60, but when I get there, it's not going to happen. When Social Security was first created, most workers entered the workforce at age 18 (or earlier), retired at 62 or 65, and then lived maybe another 10 years.

Today, many workers do not enter the workforce until age 22 or so. Some people are retiring at age 55 or 60, then living to be 85 or 90. At its extreme, only 1/3 of such a person's life will be spent in some sort of productive economic activity. Like it or not, our extended life expectancies mean that people are going to have to work longer. Either that, or we have to accept a reduced standard of living.